2 down, 18 to go.

I just wrote a great post and then it disappeared. UHG! So this entry will unfortunately be short because my head feels as though it is going to fall of my body any moment and roll down the stairs to relax with or without my torso attatched.

I had a beautiful weekend, got in a nice 6 mile walk on Saturday, had dinner with Jim at our favorite restaurant on Saturday night and spend Sunday running errands that I might not want to do later this weekend.

Monday morning I got in a nice 3.5 mile walk and then went in for my first treatment. It was hectic and a little nerve-wracking but Jim came with me to see what I would be going through day by day and to hold my hand.

Accessing the mediport is simple and relatively pain free and right now I have a lovely external tube in it for the duration of the week. It will come out Friday and a new one will go in on Monday. It makes everything easier throughout the daily treatments.

My typical treatment cycle goes like this:

100ml drip of saline & benadryl
100ml drip of saline & hydro-cortisone
500ml drip of saline (hydration)
100ml drip of INTRON A (40 million units) & saline
500ML drop of saline (more hydration)

The whole process takes about 3 hours from start to finish and it's a little hard to read. I think it is all still to new for me. Yesterday Jim and I just chatted the whole time and asked questions when the nurses came by to plug in new bags. Today I spend some quiet time listening to my iPod Mini and Jim did some reading.

In terms of side effects, so far, so good. I didn't have the raging 104 fever last night that the nurse told me to expect. Instead I had a fierce headache and some minor aches and pain (similar to early onset of flu). Right now, I have a serious headache and have had an upset stomach. Still I prefer this over chills and fever. Jim said he would pick the fever over the headache. I think though that I am content with the "status quo" of side effects for now.

Yesterday and today are the only time that my doses are close (less than 16 hour apart) as of tomorrow it will be every 24 hours so maybe that will cut the headache down to a dull roar. The nurse said my biggest problems were going to be keeping hydrated and possible mood swings. So I have a big bottle that we are filling alternately with water and gatoraid. The mood swing are likely to come much later in the treatment process.

OOPPS .. There goes my brain, I think she is getting ready to detach and leave my fingers to aimlessly type. That is my cue to step away from the computer screen

Somebody get out and ride 20 miles on your bike today! It is too nice out not to!

I'm living STRONG and doing well as long as the lights are dim and the noises low.